


Comeuppance

by TheIcyQueen



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, Gen, Post-Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, Revenge, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-05 01:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17315477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIcyQueen/pseuds/TheIcyQueen
Summary: In which Ienzo reminds Lea that there are consequences to his actions.





	Comeuppance

In all your years of knowing him, you'd never seen Ienzo smile. Not even once, out of the corner of your eye. He was a child plucked right out of a horror movie, it seemed--blank, unspeaking, all-knowing. It had always made you  _unspeakably_  uncomfortable. Smiling was just what kids  _did_ , it was how they  _worked_ , and the fact that he wouldn't, well, it just struck a chord somewhere in you. The kid wasn't  _right_.  
  
So when you walked into that room and he glanced up from the mess on the desk, all quirked lips and steady eyes, you should've known. You should've  _known_. Because you'd never seen Ienzo smile.  
  
But you  _had_  seen Zexion do it. And somehow, that was even worse.  
  
When the Schemer smiled, it was a promise of unpleasantness. It would be etched across his face with perfect clarity, a cold glint in those steely eyes. If Zexion smiled, you  _knew_  what was coming, and you  _knew_  it would hurt.  
  
So you should've known, but you didn't. Because where Zexion was all icy calculation and tightly wound body language, Ienzo was baby-faced naiveté and sleeves that were still a bit too long for him.  
  
And so you'd walked right into his hand.  
  
There had been a moment--only a moment--of anxiety when you noticed Aeleus at the bookcase. He'd been kneeling, but when he'd straightened to his full height, you remembered exactly how intimidating a figure he cut. He had little to say to you, in that low rumble of a voice, but the lug had maybe said ten words to you in all the time you'd known him, so you weren't terribly surprised.  
  
The way he kept his eyes on you, however.  
  
Now that worried you.  
  
You'd seen them in action often enough to know, though, the big oaf wouldn't make a move unless otherwise signaled by the kid. And so you figured you were fine.  
  
The kid blathered on, his voice little more than white noise. Regained hearts, separate worlds, blahblahblah. You began to miss his days of playing mute. Until he did just that, of course, and the study went dead silent.  
  
You figured they'd lost interest and gone back to their ransacking of Ansem's belongings, and decided it was high time you took your leave. Hearts or no hearts, these two still spooked you on a visceral level, and being kept in such cramped quarters with them was beginning to jingle your nerves. You turned around to make your exit, already forming a witty line to leave on, only to be immediately halted.  
  
There he stood, leaning behind the desk, fingers steepled under his chin in contemplation,  _smiling_. And oh, you realized a second too late that you  _knew_  that smile.  
  
Through his nose, he exhaled a merry sigh, corners of his lips twitching dangerously as he inspected you. "I think…" Ienzo started, pushing himself up from his lean, "That you and I are  _quite_  overdue for a friendly chat, don't you?"  
  
You were suddenly aware of a presence just to your left--you'd forgotten just  _how_ quiet Aeleus could be, when he put his mind to it.  
  
Slowly at first, Ienzo took a few steps forward, heavy-soled boots thudding dully against the floor. He inhaled deeply before dropping his hands, holding them out to his sides in question. "Who, exactly, do you think you  _are_? Better question," he interrupted his own train of thought, holding a finger up to keep you from responding. "Who do you think  _I_  am?"  
  
Ienzo, you answered, and maybe he should consider memorizing it, if he was having so much trouble remembering.  
  
He watched you for a long moment, eyebrows drawn up in tired disbelief. Clucking his tongue, Ienzo let out a low groan, gesturing curtly with his hand.  
  
Aeleus hit you, then, nothing more than a flick of his wrist to the back of your head, but the impact was enough for you to see stars.  
  
Message received, you thought, no mouthing off to the tiny tyrant while the meat shield was nearby.  
  
"Right,  _right_ , it's coming back to me, now. You think you're funny. What a shame, I'd nearly forgotten." He approached you, arms folded across his thin chest, and even though he was significantly shorter than you, significantly weaker, a tight ball of anxiety began to coil deep in your gut. "I want you to think long and hard before giving me an answer to this question, Lea. Do you believe that I am an idiot?"  
  
You shook your head no, as though you had any other option.   
  
"Good.  _Good_ ," and his tone was chilly and impassive, a doctor preparing to cut into a patient. "However. You're lying. You  _must_  think me an idiot, else you wouldn't have marched in here as though all was well, after what happened in  _Oblivion_." As punctuation, your arm was grabbed, Aeleus keeping you rooted firmly in place.  
  
Heyheyhey, you tried to explain, if this was about the old man, you were just following orders…  
  
But that only earned you another incredulous glare. You got the distinct feeling you were wearing at his nerves in exactly the  _worst_  possible way.  
  
"You think," he started, pausing just long enough to chuckle derisively, "You think I care about what you did to  _Vexen_? Really, now? Frankly, Lea, I'm wounded. You honestly think so little of me that I would forge this vendetta over  _Vexen_ , of all people?" He laughed again, this one sending a horrific shudder down your spine. "I was going to let Marluxia do away with him, eventually. Now, did I find the manner in which you struck him down reprehensible? Yes. It was callous, it was showy, and worst of all, it was  _sloppy_. I can abide a lot of things. Murder, ulterior motives, friendly fire," he ticked them off on his fingers, "But sloppiness? Inexcusable."  
  
You told him he was crazy. You'd always had your suspicions, but this was the final nail in the coffin. The kid was bonkers.  
  
Ienzo didn't appear particularly affected by the statement, but Aeleus' grip became bruisingly tight on your arm. You tried to struggle, but it only worsened the situation--you'd swear you could feel hairline fractures forming.  
  
"No," Ienzo said, shaking his head slowly. "Crazy is trying to double cross the founding members of the Organization. Crazy is sticking your nose into the goings-on of your superiors.  _Crazy_ , Lea, is thinking that you could  _murder me_  and not face any consequence." There was that smile, again, and no part of you liked it. Not one little bit because  _Ienzo did not smile_. "So you go ahead," he began anew, adept fingers curling around the chains of your cloak, pulling you down until your noses all but touched, "And you go play the tragic hero. You right all those wrongs that you created with your own slimy hands. Call yourself whatever you want, and please, enjoy that heart of yours. But it doesn't change  _anything_ , Lea. Because maybe the Organization is dead, but in the grand scheme of things? There will  _always_  be scientists, with our power and prestige and sharp little instruments made for slicing. And there will _always_  be lab rats. Know. Your. Place," he hissed, his jaw grit tight, eyes flashing under the shade of his hair, "Because I will  _not_  hesitate putting you back in it."  
  
He released your chains and waved his hand again--your stomach sank as your feet left the ground. Before you could register it, your face was careening toward the wall with increasing speed--  
  
You woke up in an empty study, a ringing in your ears, the taste of blood in your mouth, and a singular thought echoing in your mind:  
  
You didn't like it when Ienzo smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> Reupload from 8/18/13.


End file.
